Some known vehicle steering assemblies are configured such that when a driver rotates a steering wheel in a desired direction, a steering column shaft connected to the steering wheel is rotated, and an intermediate shaft transmits the rotary force of the steering shaft through a universal joint to a gear box, which may include a rack and pinion gear.
The gear box converts the rotational motion of the steering shaft into a rectilinear motion by the rack and pinion gear, and transmits the rectilinear motion to a rack bar. As such, the rack bar transmits the force to a tie rod connected to a tire knuckle such that the driving direction of the vehicle can be changed.
The axis between the steering shaft and the gear box is configured by an input shaft and an output shaft which are angled to each other rather than being coaxially aligned, which makes it difficult to transmit power with a conventional shaft coupling method. As such, an intermediate shaft and universal joint are utilized so as to make the angle of the steering shaft variable within a predetermined range.
In some known steering assemblies, the steering column shaft includes a bearing and a lock sleeve. For packaging purposes and/or collapse requirements, it is necessary to position the bearing and/or lock sleeve as close as possible to the universal joint. However, such an arrangement makes it difficult to attach the universal joint to the steering column shaft.